NEW starters will be able to join forces at superintendent level as part of a wider overhaul of recruitment rules unveiled by policing minister Damian Green.

Mr Green also revealed plans for a fast track to inspector scheme, and foreign police chiefs will be able to run British forces for the first time.

The overhaul is part of a package of reforms that were put forward by ex-rail regulator Tom Winsor in the widest-ranging review of police pay and conditions in more than 30 years.

In a written statement, Mr Green said: “The issue of choosing our police leaders is of the highest importance to the future of the police.

“The fast-track-to-inspector scheme will attract the brightest with the most potential to go on to become leaders.

“Direct entry at senior ranks will make sure that there is access to the best pool of talent, those who have proven leadership and business skills and who can bring with them fresh thinking from other sectors.”

Under current rules, all police must enter at constable rank, but the proposals put out for consultations would allow new starters to skip the compulsory two years on the beat.

Mr Winsor’s plans included a direct entry scheme for inspectors aimed at recruiting around 80 candidates each year, targeted at graduates from the best universities and the brightest and the best within the police service.

He also put forward a scheme for superintendent level in a bid to attract “exceptional” individuals from other fields including the military, the security services and industry.

The scheme would train candidates to become fully operational police superintendents within 15 months.

Mr Green said he would also consult on a proposal to widen eligibility for chief constable rank to include officers in equivalent roles in countries with “a common law jurisdiction” – such as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India.

Current legislation prevented US “supercop” Bill Bratton, former head of the New York police, applying to take charge of the Metropolitan Police in 2011.

The consultation on the proposals launched today and closes on March 28.

Sir Peter Fahy from the Association of Chief Police Officers said the changes could see existing officers frustrated in their bids for promotion.

The number of officers in senior ranks looks set to shrink as forces across the country face budget cuts of 20%.

He said: “In general police forces are not short of talent. In fact a bigger challenge is dealing with ambitious staff frustrated by the lack of promotion opportunities.

“Bringing people in from outside to senior leadership positions will obviously make that more difficult. There will be questions about how any direct entry scheme will work in practice, how it can be afforded and whether those already in the service can apply.

“Chief officers are not resistant to change but this one scheme will not bring about the degree of reform required.

“Chief officers have delivered the budget reductions asked of them while maintaining the protection of the public, demonstrating techniques of business transformation and change management which show the service is not short of these skills.”

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “These reforms will help open up the force to the best and the brightest outside talent, talent that has previously been beyond our reach.

“By having a bigger pool of experience from which to choose the Metropolitan Police will inevitably be more representative of the city it serves, across all its ranks.

“We are recruiting 5,000 constables over the next three years and we want Londoners of every background to consider a policing career. Direct entry will help cast the recruitment net even wider.”